Senegalese Football Federation Condemns AFCON Title Reversal

On Tuesday, the Confederation of African Football‘s appeals board ruled that Senegal “forfeited the final” by leaving the pitch before the match concluded, converting Senegal’s 1-0 extra-time victory into a 3-0 default win in Morocco’s favour.

The FSF argued that the ruling “discredits African football” and announced plans to appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne, Switzerland — a process that typically takes around a year to reach a conclusion.

“The FSF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values of integrity and sporting justice and will keep the public informed of developments in this matter,” the federation said in a statement.

CAF grounded its decision in Article 82 of the tournament’s regulations, invoking it on appeal despite not doing so at the initial hearing.

Related: CAF Declares Morocco Champions Of The 2025 AFCON

The rule states: “if, for any reason whatsoever, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorization of the referee, it shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition.”